Should I drain some oil out of my car?

Question

Hey Guys,
I have a Ford Focus ZX3 and I am wondering if you could tell me if I have too much oil in my car. Last Saturday I decided that I am going to change my oil myself and put Mobile 1 premium synthetic oil. I did manage to change it and at the end I filled it up with about 4.7 quarts of oil and some other additive(to clean the engine) that made it total of about 5.1 quarts. Although my car requires only 4.5 quarts I have it more than that. The oil is so clean that it is impossible to see where is the oil level. But I think that I am about an 3/4 an inch over the Full...
So should I drain the excess or just let it circulate in the engine until the next oil change?
I don't know if it could cause any damage to the car, but I haven't been seeing any smoke from the muffler.
Thanks guys,

Answer 1

yes. you should drain some out. too much oil puts extra pressure on the oil system and over a period of time can cause seals to leak. 3/4 of a quart isnt bad, but it still wouldnt hurt to correct this. and as an alternative to draining it out of the oil plug (messy and may drain too much) start the car for about 5 seconds, then remove the oil filter, pour the oil out of it, reinstall it, then start the car again for 10 seconds. may take 1 or two times to do it that way, but it only removes about .30 of a quart out at a time. may be a little easier for ya.

Answer 2

I'm sorry to tell you but you should use a funnel and drain off a quart of oil. Do it in an original oil can by cracking the drain plug and un -screwing it only enough to drain a small trickle of oil into the funnel. Did you change the filter when you drained the oil? The area in the filter counts as part of total capacity if the crank ace when changing engine oil. Look in your crankcase oil capacity section in your owners manual. NEVER fill it more than it calls for. What your seeing out your tailpipe is engine oil that's being beaten to death by your crankshaft counter weights and main journals as it spins. This causes foam to be formed in the oil actually increasing the volume of oil already there. Your piston rings can't control the extra "splishin" and "splashin" of the extra oil and "foamin goin on". With 100% synthetic oil it's totally unnecessary to add any additive to further clean your motor. Synthetics already contain the world's best crankcase detergents. You'll be fine if you drain a quart and when ever your in doubt, check you dipstick often.

Answer 3

Just use the synthetic oil and don't use additives. Oil technology has come a long way and additives wont do you any good. Is there a specific reason you added these.

I would drain a little oil out of the engine. You probably wont have a problem, but here is what happens -

The crankshaft dips down into the oil and froths it - adds air to the oil - when it is over full. Since the oil pump does a good job of pumping fluid but not air, you may starve the engine of lubricant - slightly.

Better safe than sorry - get the level right.

Answer 4

If you are to full the pressure could harm some gaskets because of excessive pressure... that same pressure can cause the oil to froth up and become bubbly .... thus not protecting vital components.... I would drain out a little bit... tricky dipstick... put it in and out as fast and as accurately as you can.! You wont see any smoke from the muffler untill the oil gets past the rings and that is a completly different blog. you don't need to worry about it.. just oil leaks on the motor and long term damage down the road if you dont

Answer 5

you can change the filter without changing the oil and vice versa, however neither one is a good idea. changing the filter won't help your oil condition much as the dark in the oil is carbon that is already too small for your filter to process. the filter just gets out the big stuff. on the other hand, changing the oil without the filter means there is no good cleaning element for your oil and there will be fouled oil still in the filter meaning you'll start out with dirty oil as for oil in the face. on nearly every car the top of the filter is higher than the top of the oil reservoir, thus the amount of oil spill from the filter is not related to draining the oil from the car first.

Answer 6

You could replace the oil filter (use Motorcraft which are good oil filters) and probably balance it out. Mobil1 eh? YUCK! Why support the largest company in the world which gets record returns quarterly by screwing people over at the gas pump? Use Valvoline SynPower. Aftermarket oil additives are not necessary in this day and age.

Answer 7

i own a repair shop,and if its any more than a half a quart id get it out of there,its actually better to run one half a quart low,than over,it will cause leaks in it and puts a lot of pressure on the rear main seal,i don't recommend ever running one over id rather see one that's a half a quart low ,than over any day,good luck,i hope this help,s.

Answer 8

1/2 quart extra shouldn't hurt it.
Just check the dip stick after a highway run, if there's no bubbles or foam on it your ok.
An old racer told me they ran an extra 1/2 quart to help the pump primed while cornering.

Answer 9

although I don't think that would hurt your car, I would drain some anyway just in case, but using additive with synthetic oil is very unnecessary

Answer 10

you can get some reading glasses at alot of stores ,then read the level .
clean the area and drain a little how hard is that . don't drain it hot cause you'll need to get your hand in the oil to put plug in .